Awning roller tension UGH

[Eggs Benedict]

Good day folks,

When I bought my Passport last year, the awning was completely dry-rotted and in pieces. Any tension on the roller was unwound. Most of the cast fittings on the arms were broken, and the top front attachment was ripped out of the siding. I have finally figured out how to put it back together: installed new fabric and new fittings, got it screwed to the trailer. So far, so good. Following instructions from multiple sites, with the awning all the way unrolled, I re-tensioned the front roller counter-clockwise. It won't roll up. I have to manually twist the roller to go up, and switching the lever to down, it releases tension and falls. Dammit.

I'm confused about the rear spring, too. Maybe I'm just at head-scratching capacity after a couple of weeks of trying to fix all its problems under a time limit. So, if I re-tension the rear spring in a similar fashion, with vise grips on the spring shaft to keep if from unrolling, it will have spring assist moving in both directions?

[chuckster57]

If you have a manual awning, putting the tension is easiest with the fabric rolled up, and NOT installed on the rail.

Undo all tension, roll up the fabric in the direction it would be if fully retracted. Use masking tape to hold it there. With the arms attached, flip the lever to “extend”. Rotate the tube 1 turn for each linear foot of awning (14’ awning gets 14 rotations).

Undo the tape, feed into awning rail. Attach feet and extend awning.

[Eggs Benedict]

Thanks, Chuckster. I did it that way before installing it on the rail, but the procedure didn't result in it rolling the way it ought to. I thought it would be good to go when I attached the rail, but no. I don't have anyone to help me feed it on to the rail from the end, so I had to install it by boosting it up from the ground. It will turn a maximum of 9 full turns. I suppose it's possible the spring is bad inside. Thanks for the tips!

[chuckster57]

It didn’t seem like that when I read your post. The springs will wind in opposite directions to work in tandem. We do it on the shop floor with the arms on jackstands.

I would start over: take the awning off. Then undo the roller ends one at a time to release ALL tension. Re attach then put the top of the arms on jackstands. With the fabric rolled all the way up, tape it in 3 spots.

Then set the ratchet so turning the tube would make the fabric come off (extend). Turn it about 12-14 full turns, it will get hard to turn. Remove the tape, DO NOT move the ratchet. Put the fabric back in the rail and clip the bottoms of the arms into the brackets.

Now you can secure the tops of the arms and extend the awning. It is a 2 person job.

[Eggs Benedict]

Thanks Chuckster!

Now I understand the spring system, thanks to your explanation. Ok. I was able to get it to roll up and down without bashing my head LOL. I won't have anyone to help me until next week, but I unbolted the rear bracket, rolled awning all the way up manually, re-attached rear bracket. As it comes down, it tensions the rear spring. Used two ladders to support the arms while moving the bolts. The tension is a little slack, but once I can get someone over to give me a hand, we can get it off the top rail and re-wind it as you explained. I thank you and the top of my head thanks you!

[chuckster57]

Originally Posted by Eggs Benedict

Thanks Chuckster!

Now I understand the spring system, thanks to your explanation. Ok. I was able to get it to roll up and down without bashing my head LOL. I won't have anyone to help me until next week, but I unbolted the rear bracket, rolled awning all the way up manually, re-attached rear bracket. As it comes down, it tensions the rear spring. Used two ladders to support the arms while moving the bolts. The tension is a little slack, but once I can get someone over to give me a hand, we can get it off the top rail and re-wind it as you explained. I thank you and the top of my head thanks you!

If its working, you can just remove the tube end, and use pair of vise grips to add tension. remember that there will be tension on the end so put the vise grips on FIRST and be ready to hold the tension on the rear spring. the front spring will be easy if you just set the lever to extend.

I would add 3-4 turns.